Hunter, who gave up nine runs on Wednesday, will be sent down to Double-A Bowie, and it would be a surprise if he didn’t rejoin the club when he is eligible after 10 days. Rosters will be expanded by then.

Hunter was 4-8 with a 5.95 ERA in 23 games (20 starts).

“I’m going to go pitch, somewhere other than here,” Hunter said before his destination was announced. “We don’t know where ... I don’t know where I am going, but I’ll step in line and take the ball.”

Romero has been designated for assignment. The lefty reliever was 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in five games.

Brian Matusz, who has been a starter all his career, was moved to the bullpen at Triple-A Norfolk last week. He’ll come back to Baltimore as a lefty in the pen for now.

“It’s never easy switching [roles],” Matusz said. “The way I look at it is It’s still pitching. You still have to get hitters out.”

Flaherty had been on the disabled list with an illness, originally called tonsilitis. He has been activated and is batting eighth and playing second base tonight against Toronto.

“It was one of those things, I got better but in three days I had lost like 10 pounds,” Flaherty said. “It probably took three days before the [swelling] went away. After that I was fine.”

In other news, right-hander Jason Hammel threw a simlated game, his next step in recovery from right knee surgery.